Module: Negotiating Gender British & Irish Women 1900-1945

Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

Module Title	Negotiating Gender British & Irish Women 1900-1945
Module Code	HIS1037 (ITS: HY331)
Faculty	History & Geography	School	Humanities & Social Sciences
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	10

Description

The purpose of this module is to introduce students to the use of primary sources as historical evidence by engaging with specific documents relating to the position of women in Ireland and Britain during a period in which gender roles began to shift. During this period, women began to slowly play a greater role in the public sphere although this did not come about without opposition from the states under investigation, the churches and other pillars of the establishment. Students will write an undergraduate research paper based on primary sources in conjunction with relevant secondary sources. An oral presentation will form part of this process.

Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate knowledge of key events in the history of women in Ireland and Britain in the period 1900-1945
2. Evaluate trends and movements in Irish and British society and culture that influenced shifting gender roles in the period
3. Establish an in-depth understanding of relevant historiography
4. Engage critically with primary sources
5. Demonstrate an ability to research and write an undergraduate research paper

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full time hours per semester
Lecture	22	Lectures
Seminars	22	Seminars
Directed learning	30	Engaging with primary sources
Assignment Completion	36	Document analysis, literature review, presentation, research paper
Independent Study	140	Sourcing and reading module related material
Total Workload: 250

Section Breakdown
CRN	20539	Part of Term	Semester 2
Coursework	0%	Examination Weight	0%
Grade Scale	40PASS	Pass Both Elements	Y
Resit Category	RC1	Best Mark	N
Module Co-ordinator	Leeann Lane	Module Teacher	Gránia Shanahan, Sparky Booker

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Assessment Breakdown
Assignment	Document Analysis	10%	Week 2
Assignment	Literature review	20%	Week 7
Presentation	Oral Presentation	10%	Week 11
Research Paper	Research Paper	60%	As required

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; RC1: A resit is available for both^* components of the module. RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module. RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element. ^* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Indicative Content
This module examines constructions of gender roles in Irish and British society in a period of social, cultural and political change. The module will consider the gendered experiences of work, education and family life in the period.

The suffrage campaigns

Women's roles in the Irish Revolutionary period

Women's roles in World War I and World War II

Women: Marriage and family

Women and sexuality

Women and work

Political activism after suffrage

Education

Emigration

Religion

Leisure

Indicative Reading List

Books:

Bourke, Angela et al, (eds.): 2001, The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing vol. iv, vol. v, Cork,
Bruley, Sue: 1999, Women in Britain since 1900, Basingstoke,
Clear, Caitriona: 2000, Women of the House: Women’s Household Work in Ireland, 1926-1961, Dublin,
Buckley, Sarah-Anne: 2013, The Cruelty Man: Child Welfare, the NSPCC and the State in Ireland 1899-1956, Manchester,
Connolly, Linda: 2003, The Irish Women’s Movement: From Revolution to Devolution, Dublin,
Earner-Byrne, Lindsay: 2007, Mother and Child: Maternity and Child Welfare in Dublin 1922-1960, Dublin,
Grayzel, Susan: 2002, Women and the First World War, London,
Holden, Katherine: 2007, In the Shadow of Marriage. Singleness in England 1914-60, Manchester,
Inglis, Tom: 1998, Moral Monopoly. The Catholic Church in Modern Irish Society, 2nd edition, Dublin,
Lane, Leeann: 2010, Rosamond Jacob. Third Person Singular, Dublin,
Luddy, Maria: 2007, Prostitution and Irish Society 1800-1940, Cambridge,
Luddy, Maria: 2005, ‘A “Sinister and Retrogressive Proposal”: Irish Women’s Opposition to the 1937 Draft Constitution’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, vol. 15,
McDiarmid, Lucy: 2015, At Home in the Revolution. What Women Said and Did in 1916, Dublin,
McIntosh, Gill and Diane Urquhart (eds.),: 2015, At Home in the Revolution. What Women Said and Did in 1916, Dublin,
McIntosh, Gill and Diane Urquhart (eds.),: 2010, Irish Women and War: The Twentieth Century, Dublin,
Paseta, Senia: 2004, Irish Nationalist Women 1900-1918, Cambridge,
Pugh, Martin: 2000, Women and the Women’s Movement in Britain, 1914-1959, 2nd edition, Basingstoke,
Rattigan, Cliona: 2012, ‘What Else Could I Do?’: Single Mothers and Infanticide, Ireland 1900-1950, Dublin,
Ryan, Louise: 2003, ‘Leaving Home: Irish Press debates on female employment, domesticity and emigration to Britain in the 1930s’, Women’s History Review, vol. 12, no. 3,
Ryan, Louise and Margaret Ward (eds.),: 2018, Irish Women and the Vote: Becoming Citizens, Dublin,
Scott, Joan: 1999, Gender and the Politics of Histor, Revised edition, New York,
Smith, Harold: 2009, The British Women's Suffrage Campaign: 1866-1928, London,
Smith, James M: 2007, Ireland’s Magdalen Asylums and the Nation’s Architecture of Containment, Manchester,

Articles:
None

Other Resources

Website: Military Archives, www.militaryarchives.ie